What color temperature?

[Don Trinko]

What color temperature lights do I want for Fresh water plants? Also how many watts per gallon to grow Amazon swords and Vallistinaria?
Thanks; Don T.

[rickztahone]

ive been told that 6700k is the best for plants. i currently need to get two but cant find them at a reasonable price. i was also interested in swords

[KDodds]

Daylight is fine (~6500K). Vals and swords will grow in lower light, but very slowly. If you're using NO fluorescents, you might have troubles, but with double tube CF or T5's you should be okay. Are you dosing CO2?

[Don Trinko]

no CO2. I have no luck with suposed low light plants but everything I put near a window does fine. (so does the algae)
I'm going to experiment with a 20h with a few fish. I have tryed some of the suposed "plant " tubes ( 15 watts ) in the standard fixture with java moss, Anubias, and valistinaria. The val slowly died, same for the Anubias, The java moss disn't die but didn't grow much. This was in a tank with fish (not discus!)and lots of nitrates. Don T.

[Wahter]

Vallisneria are not low light plants. They also do better in harder water - in fact, I would add a calcium pill once a week when I had vallisneria and they'd take right off.

Having 15 watts over a 20 high isn't going to be much good for any plants. Upgrade the lighting to at least 30+ watts and you'll be fine with the low light plants.

Also what are you growing these plants in? plain gravel? sand?


Walter

[KDodds]

Yeah, if all you're using is the single 15W, Vals and swords would not tbe the best choices. Have you considered Crypts? Going low light/low tech is doable, but plants should be planned wisely. As stated, substrate is important as wel.

[Don Trinko]

I have gravel. I'm going to buy some lights before I try plants again. I am considering 2 or 3 14 watt lights. they are available in 10000k and actinic.
3 lights would be42 watts. Would this be enough for sowds and val? Don T.

[KDodds]

Like your garden variety pea gravel? Probably not the best choice. Any chance of replacing with a speciaized substrate? From bonsai to gardens to water features to ponds, substrate is one of the most important things. For the lights, it depends more on intensity/PAR than on wattage. A 150W incandescent bulb is pretty useless, but a 150W metal halide can easily provide enough light for medium to high light plants in a 24" cube. Keep in mind, too, that swords like to be fertilized at the roots.

[GrillMaster]

Cmon Don...You know what yer doin...Just get a lil under 2 watts per gallon. If ya want 5500K's, 6700K's, or 10000K's just depends on how you want to see your tank. The higher the K's the brighter its gonna look. Swords, vals etc...will do just fine given the proper nutrition. :)

[Don Trinko]

thanks for all the imfo. I need to do some thinking abought what I want. I have a lot of tanks so my electrical system will not take 250 watt halides etc. I am trying to stay low tech with less than 60 watts total for the 20h.
Thanks; Don t.

[KDodds]

LOL, man, a 250 MH on a 20? Ya wanna cook the things?

Try this: http://www.petsolutions.com/Nova-Extreme-X2-T5HO-Fixtures+I42901124+C33.aspx

Inexpensive, not the greatest T5 fixtures, but perfectly servicable and should work well for what you want to do and then some. You might find that you need to remove one bulb, though, if you're not dosing CO2.

[GrillMaster]

OMG Don...I just read yer goin thru all this on a 20G tank... :inquisitive:

Disregard all that 5500K, 6700K and 10000K stuff I mentioned earlier!! Just put a 60W bulb over it for 8 hours...;) :D :D :D

[Don Trinko]

I'm doing all this to see if I can grow plants and what kind. I can then use this imfo for bigger tanks.
My present plan is to use 3 14 watt strip lights. They are available in 10,000k and actinic. I can mix them since they are individual lights. What mix do I want, all 10,000k. 2 10,000k and 1 actinic or what? or does it realy matter? Thanks again; Don T.

[KDodds]

Actinics put out very little PAR, and are not very useful in terms of photosynthesis. Their main use is in producing the fluorescence of corals in reef aquariums. Higher spectrum temperature bulbs produce, usually, less PAR than lower spectrum temperature bulbs, comparing brand to brand, of course. For this reason, when going with lower light schemes, it's sometimes better to go with lower specturm temperatures. If you're going with 3 lamps, I'd say 2 6500K and 1 10000K or Actinic, keeping in mind that the 10000K will at least be useful in producing a reasonable amount of PAR.

[Don Trinko]

Thanks again; Don t.

[scottthomas]

I grow Anubias nana and watersprite like crazy in just pea gravel. no ferts. no CO2 and low lights. (140 watts in a hundred gallon tank)The watersprite has to be trimmed weekly and almost completely wipes out algae. It is a great plant for high heat and acid soft water.

Scott